Granite Worktops - Truth, Lies and misinformation

suisidevw

You are right CB... swing and roundabouts. Innit.

haha DirectDebacle. I have no regrets whatsoever putting in beautiful worktops! I've got the money so why the heck not!

cyclonebri1

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Agreed, but it's still the same [STRIKE]investment [/STRIKE] waste of money amount so..........;)

Don't worry, I understand you can't buy good taste:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;);)


And SSV obviously understands the ethos of "buy right and you buy once", which can save money.

DirectDebacle

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Don't worry, I understand you can't buy good taste:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;);)


And SSV obviously understands the ethos of "buy right and you buy once", which can save money.

I'm not worried. I might get worried if I ever became deluded enough to think that plonking lumps of over priced polished stone on overpriced chipboard boxes was an investment, let alone value for money.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

suisidevw

DirectDebacle wrote: »

I'm not worried. I might get worried if I ever became deluded enough to think that plonking lumps of over priced polished stone on overpriced chipboard boxes was an investment, let alone value for money.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

It will also (depending on your 'ceiling' and the 'standard of area') quite possibly ADD value

Stonemason1985

Hi there. This is my first post and with respect to the OP I will just say this is my opinion only. And after working for over ten years at the highest end of stone fabrication for companies such as Mark Wilkinson, Smallbone, Chalon and more I know what I am talking about. I have cut and polished worktops for £150,000 kitchens and also covered my fair share of smaller, cheaper yet no less beautiful ones. That is my point of this post. Quality of fabrication should never be compromised. If you do you will live to regret it. I have read a lot of what the OP has said and I'm sorry but I don't agree on many fronts. Granite, marble, limestone and engineered stone all need very special care and attention to detail during the whole process of manufacturing.
The intitial site visit for templating is so important to how your granite will fit. How anyone could ever consider getting guys to turn up with blanks of stone and cut them in your garden is beggars belief! The end result would be shocking. It may look ok on first instance or from a distance but believe me it will be of a very poor standard that someone like me would never in a million years put in someone's home.
Granite and natural stone is a beautiful material and should be given the care it needs.

Please don't use the cowboys. Too many times now the company I work for has had to go back and sort out shoddy workmanship and some of what I have seen makes me wonder why people pay anything at all for it. If you pay cheap you pay twice. Any questions anyone has about anything to do with stone please don't hesitate to ask me. I have only come on here to try and open somes eyes.

suisidevw

Hi SM. Good to hear from you on the thread.

Can you advise your thoughts on pricing or do you wish to steer clear of this? I've had a quote or two and keen to get some thoughts. The prices are for Silestone by authorised dealers, albeit only 'standard'.

Stonemason1985

Thank you. I could look at them for you and advise of course that is no problem.
I know Silestone is a premium priced quartz for its warranty and exceptional after sales. So I'm sure it's not cheap no matter who your quotes are from. Even to us as a big southern bespoke fabricator. One slab of say Silestone Blanco Norte costs us £800. So you can see how it can become pricey.
Have you considered any other brands of quartz? We do a lot of Chinese quartz now from Unistone. I have to say as a fabricator who cuts it every day along with the European big name brands. I think the Chinese are getting it right now. The quality used to be very poor. Shade variation in the slab, thickness difference, low quality polish, warping of material all sorts of things. Unistone seems better than a lot of what has been before it.

cyclonebri1

Stonemason1985 wrote: »

Hi there. This is my first post and with respect to the OP I will just say this is my opinion only. And after working for over ten years at the highest end of stone fabrication for companies such as Mark Wilkinson, Smallbone, Chalon and more I know what I am talking about. I have cut and polished worktops for £150,000 kitchens and also covered my fair share of smaller, cheaper yet no less beautiful ones. That is my point of this post. Quality of fabrication should never be compromised. If you do you will live to regret it. I have read a lot of what the OP has said and I'm sorry but I don't agree on many fronts. Granite, marble, limestone and engineered stone all need very special care and attention to detail during the whole process of manufacturing.
The intitial site visit for templating is so important to how your granite will fit. How anyone could ever consider getting guys to turn up with blanks of stone and cut them in your garden is beggars belief! The end result would be shocking. It may look ok on first instance or from a distance but believe me it will be of a very poor standard that someone like me would never in a million years put in someone's home.
Granite and natural stone is a beautiful material and should be given the care it needs.

Please don't use the cowboys. Too many times now the company I work for has had to go back and sort out shoddy workmanship and some of what I have seen makes me wonder why people pay anything at all for it. If you pay cheap you pay twice. Any questions anyone has about anything to do with stone please don't hesitate to ask me. I have only come on here to try and open somes eyes.

Welcome, nice to find a none self interested trades person involved again.

I echo you comments on on site cutting. I've made my feeling clear earlier.
Having seen 1st hand the CNC kit that the pukka suppliers have in the workshops how anyone can expect the same quality of installation by onsite cutting escapes me. Yes ok, a tap hole or waste disposal switch hole, but other than that it really ought to be brought to site finished.

suisidevw

Stonemason1985 wrote: »

Thank you. I could look at them for you and advise of course that is no problem.
I know Silestone is a premium priced quartz for its warranty and exceptional after sales. So I'm sure it's not cheap no matter who your quotes are from. Even to us as a big southern bespoke fabricator. One slab of say Silestone Blanco Norte costs us £800. So you can see how it can become pricey.
Have you considered any other brands of quartz? We do a lot of Chinese quartz now from Unistone. I have to say as a fabricator who cuts it every day along with the European big name brands. I think the Chinese are getting it right now. The quality used to be very poor. Shade variation in the slab, thickness difference, low quality polish, warping of material all sorts of things. Unistone seems better than a lot of what has been before it.

The quote was £2040 for Silestone Blanco Zeus for two runs of 2.5m and one side with hob and sink cutout, drainer grooves and 100mm up stands. As before it's an 'approved supplier' if that actually means anything. Seems to be a pretty low price.

Any thoughts appreciated:)

Stonemason1985

If your only having two runs that will come out of one slab which should keep the cost down. The upstands will come off the bottom of the slab and be milled down to 20mm. Looking at the measurements the worktops are what 3m2? Going off other quotes I have seen through my company in the high end quartz. What you have been quoted seems a good competitive price to me.
What sink cut out? Undermount or drop in?
Flush mount hob or overhung?
How many tap holes?
Recessed drainer areas? All of these things will push the price up.

What I can do is I could get you a quote through my company going off those measurements you gave me. I know for a fact we will be the most expensive in the country so that could be a good comparison for you.